Professor Layton and the Search for the Missing

Chapter six

"Lady Dahlia? Missing?" The professor asked. "Have you checked with Bruno yet, Matthew?"

The butler nodded. "He was the first person I went to. I figured that maybe she had shut down and that he had gone and taken her to repair her, but he was kicked out of his own workshop before she went missing. I found him on the ground outside of the massive tower."

The professor gasped. "Where is he now?"

"He should be in Reinhold Manor." Matthew answered. "We thought that you had come back and taken her."

"Why would the professor do that?!" Liz asked, getting defensive. "He would never hurt anyone, much less kidnap!!! He's the most kind person you could meet, and-"

"Elizabeth." The Professor said. "Please remember to hold your temper. That's what a lady does."

"Sorry, Professor." Liz apologized.

"Now, Matthew. What made you think that I kidnapped Lady Dahlia?" The professor asked.

"There was a note left. She was taken as a ransom hostage." Matthew said. "Bruno can tell you more. May I escort you to Reinhold manor?" He asked. The professor nodded.

"That would be most helpful, Matthew. Thank you." He turned to Liz. "Come, now, Liz. We must speak to Bruno."

"Bruno?" Liz asked, hurrying behind the Professor. "Isn't he the man who built the village, and pretty much everything in it?" The professor nodded.

"Bruno is quite a handyman at building things, especially robots." He answered. "If anyone knows what happened to Lady Dahlia, it would be him."

"But I thought that we were searching for Luke." Liz said in a bit of a whiny tone. She wanted to make sure that her brother was alright. The Professor nodded, but said,

"I know that you must be concerned for your brother's well-being, Liz, however, please try to be patient. If we can find Lady Dahlia, that may give us more clues on where Luke is. Please, if we want to find Luke, we need to solve a few other mysteries along the way."

"But why?" Liz asked. "Can't we just solve one mystery and be done with it? Can't we just find Luke?"

"Liz, we must help everyone if we can. That's what a gentleman, and lady, does."

Liz sighed. She always tried to be a lady, just as she knew Luke always tried to be a gentleman, but she could hardly contain her patience. Luke was missing, and here they were looking for a robot, and going in the exact opposite direction of the massive tower!!!

Reluctantly, Liz walked after the Professor and Matthew, towards Reinhold Manor.

Upon coming to the doors, Matthew tried to open the doors, and then just stood there, laughing awkwardly.

"I seem to have accidentally locked myself out of Reinhold Manor." Matthew laughed.

"Can't you call someone from inside to let us in, or something?" Liz asked.

Matthew shook his head. "The only person inside right now is Bruno, and he's in no condition to get up and answer the door."

"Why would you leave him here by himself if he wasn't even in good enough condition to answer the door?" Liz asked.

"I came to accuse Mr. Layton of kidnapping as soon as the man at the gate told me that he was back." Matthew explained. "A lot of us are against you right now because of the letter, Mr. Layton." He told the professor.

Liz thought about that. At first, it seemed unfair that everyone would be against the professor for something he didn't do, but then, she thought about how she would have reacted if in the letter that she had received, Chelmey had said that it was the professor's fault that Luke was missing, and realized that she would be pretty mad at him, too.

"Well, let's try and get inside so that Liz and I can get any more clues." The professor said. "How do we unlock the door?" He asked.

"The lock on the door is a puzzle, Mr. Layton." Matthew answered. "Maybe you should try it?"

The Professor nodded.

"Puzzle three: Lock pick number one. Worth thirty picarats. There are five shapes." Matthew said, and Liz noted a crescent moon, a square, a circle, a hexagon, and a star. "The star can't go first, no matter what. The square goes after the star, the circle goes two down from the square, and the moon has to go second." Matthew explained. "I can't remember where the hexagon goes, though."

Liz began to get a bit impatient once again. Why couldn't people ever just get normal locks so that people like the Professor didn't have to bail them out if they forgot a combination of shapes for a puzzle lock?

The professor stood there, moving the shapes around. When he had placed the shapes in the order of: square, moon, circle, hexagon, star, he turned the knob to hear a click sound.

"Ha, wonderful!!!" The professor exclaimed. He turned to Liz. "What do you say, Liz? Want to go talk to Bruno?"

"If it gets us closer to finding Luke, then of course I do!!!" Liz exclaimed, walking after the professor and Matthew and into Reinhold Manor.